Mohave County miner., 1887-03-19
the MExIcAn FLUTE.
4 riss fss The Revival or . Taseful ssa
swsu4 Iustrameats

y rlea fOs The Revival 0f . Taaefu1 0H6
sws~a Iastrameat.
There IL no doabt atout Il" said
William Ronnberg. tho venerable flute
maker. shak NJ his white head mourn
fully, "fn,e.playing among amateurs
has gone out of style. Worse G,an that;
il has lecome an object OF r.d'cule.
The nan who pays the flute for amusc-
incnt Is laughed nj; hc Is regarded as a
sort Of Miss Nancy. and his friends
make gly remarks abo,it his lowering
rents in his ne'giboraooI. The verse
makers write what they think arc funny
lines about the toot Of the flute, and 50,
after taking all th'nys into consiicra-
tion. tn, boy or young man with taste
for muse and desire 10 learn soae
musical instrument is actually laughed
out Of beginning to play one Of the best
rarlor instruments that are made.
..Bat what does he learn instead, In
nne cases out Of temp continued the
I'D gentleman. s.SYby. either tho ear
splitting cornet or the D,nsicless banjo.
think Of that! instead of an In
sfrumcnt like the flute, with ITS so.t
sweit musical tones. he takes brass
nuisance and blows his lungs out trying
to get music ont Of IL. Lowering rents,
int!ecl! Well. Idon' want 10 be neighbor
TO the young man who is playing the
cornci. The banjo isn't quito as bad,
bat what music there Is IN It's pink-a-
p;nk-a, p.ilk-a punk. l don't know.
Mr.. Ronnb6rg spoke with the warmth
Of partisan. He prctcnds 10 be moth
ing else He has been making flutes
more years than most men live, and
looks back with regret to tho days OF
81. wlien he cempioycIa a shopfnl Of men,
and turned out iluic, by the score.
fhos, were the days when II was thing
for young men to play the German fintc.
as tho four, six and cight-keyed flutes
were called. Those were the days when
professional flute players were abundant
and excellent. The old man no longer
makes German flutes. but In his little
hop h. still makes Boehm flutes, APP
pa.ently quite Is sk.l!fnlly as he ever
did
1T Is jus. possible" he continued,
'thGt the BOehm flute ha. something to
do with the decrease in the popularity
IF the flute, although il Ii almost trea-
.on to say 30. The Bochm Is perfect
Instrument, immeasurably superior TO
he old ilule. 1t il ais, very much more
expensive, costing als tire way from q
handrcd and iifty dollars upward. II Is
also more complicated In its meci,an-
Ism, although much easier TO play, aud
therefore, more able to get ont o.oricr.
an1 here comes the point ] want to
make. An amateur buys Borhm flute
and enjoys IL. About tho time he ma, 1t
well in hand il gets out cf order. A
mere trifc perhaps. The maker conld
tx IL minute. But the owners tinkers
with IL, gets il worse. takes II 10 the first
music store he sees: they tell him they'll
have ii fixed: they send Il 10 some flute
mixer. aud The rcsnlt II. too often, the
fla:c ~ spoiled. Now, hal The owner
sent II at once to the maker. even from
d stance, his flute would have come
back better tliGD ever. hnd 20 IL comes
about ibat yoa will find In not a few
homes B,chm flutes that c,st good sum
lying dried up and uscless, oil for want
~ little care.
ut il row the fashion TO revive old
tyles Why doesn't some one revive
lute-playing? There is no instrument
more perfectly fitted for tho parlor.
Accompanied by the piano, or The harp.
or the guitar. or even the banjo It 10
very Ilcasing. There il much excellent
music arranged for the flute and PIANO,
and when you take two flutes and piano.
ach well played, then you have music
| INDEED. ~. J.. SIN.